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You should always bear in mind that:

The investment performance of any security referred to on this website can be volatile and can go up or down and you can lose your entire investment.

Past performance is not an indication of future performance.

Rates of exchange may affect the value of investments.

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This website is maintained by WisdomTree UK Limited (registered number 07443535) with registered office at 3 Lombard Street, London EC3V 9AA, United Kingdom. WisdomTree UK Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

This website is provided for your general information only and does not constitute investment advice or an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any investment.

Nothing on this website is advice on the merits of any product or investment, nothing constitutes investment, legal, tax or any other advice nor is it to be relied on in making an investment decision. Prospective investors should obtain independent investment advice and inform themselves as to applicable legal requirements, exchange control regulations and taxes in their jurisdiction.

This website complies with the regulatory requirements of the United Kingdom. There may be laws in your country of nationality or residence or in the country from which you access this website which restrict the extent to which the website may be made available to you.

United States Persons

The information provided on this site is not directed to any United States person or any person in the United States, any state thereof, or any of its territories or possessions.

Persons accessing this website in the European Economic Area.

Access to this site is restricted to Non-U.S. Persons outside the United States within the meaning of Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). Each person accessing this site, by so doing, acknowledges that: (1) it is not a U.S. person (within the meaning of Regulation S under the Securities Act) and is located outside the U.S. (within the meaning of Regulation S under the Securities Act); and (2) any securities described herein (A) have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act or with any securities regulatory authority of any state or other jurisdiction and (B) may not be offered, sold, pledged or otherwise transferred except to persons outside the U.S. in accordance with Regulation S under the Securities Act pursuant to the terms of such securities. None of the funds on this website are registered under the United States Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the "Advisers Act").

Exclusion of Liability

Certain documents made available on the website may have been prepared and issued by persons other than WisdomTree UK Limited. This includes any prospectus. WisdomTree UK Limited is not responsible in any way for the content of any such document. Except in those cases, the information on the website has been given in good faith and every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy. Nevertheless, WisdomTree UK Limited shall not be responsible for loss occasioned as a result of reliance placed on any part of the website and it makes no warranty as to the accuracy of any information or content on the website. The terms and conditions applicable to investors will be set out in the relevant prospectus, available on the website and should be read prior to making any investment.

Risk Warnings

You should always bear in mind that:

The investment performance of any security referred to on this website can be volatile and can go up or down and you can lose your entire investment.

Past performance is not an indication of future performance.

Rates of exchange may affect the value of investments.

Applications to invest in securities referred to on this website must only be made on the basis of the relevant prospectus.

Cookies

WisdomTree UK Limited may collect data about your computer, including, where available, your IP address, operating system and browser type, for system administration and other similar purposes. These are statistical data about users' browsing actions and patterns, and they do not identify any individual user of the website. This is achieved by the use of cookies. A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that is put on your computer if you agree to accept it. By clicking 'I agree' below you are consenting to the use of cookies as described here. These cookies allow you to be distinguished from other users of the website, which helps WisdomTree UK Limited provide you with a better experience when you browse the website and also allows the website to be improved from time to time. Please note that you can adjust your browser settings to delete or block cookies, but you may not be able to access parts of our website without them.

The world is changing at a rapid pace. Over the next decade, we expect five key megatrends to shape the framework in which we live. The marriage of two of these key megatrends – (1) technological innovation and (2) climate change builds the case for EV adoption. The reason for this is, the rise of EVs plugs the problem of rising global carbon emissions along with reaping the benefits of the rapid technological advancement.

Sources: Mc Kinsey July 2016, United Nations (UN) June 2017, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) May 2018, US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) May 2014 and WisdomTree

Click to enlarge

Impact of Policy Change

Political will has been the cornerstone of the shift to electrification. More than nine countries and a dozen cities or states have announced bans on the internal combustion engine within the next decade or so. Governments across the globe are supporting the shift to electrification in the auto industry by providing the necessary infrastructure and tax incentives. In doing so, they are signalling the urgency to move to zero emission vehicles to meet their climate and air quality goals. Recent investment announcements for EV infrastructure development in selected countries (Billions USD) are highlighted below:

Source: International Energy Agency, WisdomTree, data available as of close 28 June 2018

China is going green

China is spearheading its way in the EV market and accounted for nearly three quarters of global EV sales in 2017. China is yet to set a deadline for automakers to end sales of gas and diesel engines. However, the government has set very specific and trackable targets on environmental development in its 13th five-year plan. China is positioning itself to be a leader of New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) in terms of both shipment volume and technology.

After four decades of growth China’s environmental quality is now significantly poor. The government is intent on raising environmental standards. In 2015, a central government led crackdown on pollution was first introduced in the 13th five-year plan. Thousands of industrial plant owners were fined and charged for misconduct. Despite the marginal improvement in air quality it is still far from reaching the healthy standards set by international organisations. Most of China’s pollution is a result of heavy coal use which accounted for 60.4% of its total energy consumption in 2017. We are now likely to see an increase in consumption of natural gas and non-fossil fuel sources owing to the governments binding targets on energy and carbon intensity.

China has become the world’s largest auto market since 2009. Road networks contribute to 76.8% of its freight traffic and is the largest source of air pollution, underpinning the significance of the shift to New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) in China. Both the consumer and manufacturers are benefiting from government subsidies on New Energy Vehicles. In August 2017 the government issued its “Beijing -Tianjin-Hebei Autumn and Winter Air pollution control plan 2017-18”. The state council further announced a 3-year action plan for Winning the Blue Sky Defence War, with detailed targets and measures in June 2018. The Chinese government aims to sell 2mn NEV in 2020 & 7mn NEVs by 2025.

Hurdles in the EV industry

The cumulative number of plug-in electric vehicles sold worldwide, for the first nine months of this year, stands at 1,279,000 (up 68% year-over-year) marking 1.8% market share. Pure Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) led the pack up 61% and Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) rose 36% over the prior year. Projections on the EV market remain optimistic. The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects EVs to become mass market in the next 10- 15 years. The following three hurdles appear to be holding back mass EV adoption.

Source: WisdomTree

Higher battery costs are one of the main obstacles holding back consumers from buying EVs. Innovation in battery technology have enabled battery costs to decline from US$1000 per kWh (Kilo watt hour) in 2010 to below US$250 per kWh, according to S&P Global Platts. Battery prices are expected to decline further by US$100 by 2030, at which point EVs are likely to be competitive with Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles.

Advancement in battery technology

Lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) are the most widely used batteries in EVs owing to their high energy density. Metals account for 40% of the costs of LiBs according to consultant firm Roskill. These batteries require more than just lithium, with other metals used in the electrodes (anode and cathode) including graphite, cobalt, nickel and manganese. LiBs adopt a range of battery chemistries that employ various combinations of anode and cathode materials. The five most advanced technologies used in LiB are: Lithium Manganese Oxide (LMO), Lithium Cobalt Oxide (LCO), Nickel Cobalt Aluminium (NCA), Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) and Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP).

Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG), January 2010

Each of the above Lithium ion technologies can be compared along six dimensions: safety, lifespan (measured in terms of both number of charge and discharge cycles and overall battery age); performance; specific energy (how much energy a battery can store per kilogram of weight); specific power (how much power the battery can store per kilogram of mass) and finally cost. Safety is by far the most important criterion for LiB. Meanwhile battery producers face a constant tug of war between cost and safety as no single technology delivers on all six dimensions.

Source: WisdomTree

While the NCA boasts of high performance it poses safety challenges, the LFP ranks high on safety it has lower specific energy. While battery technology has taken great strides, there is no single technology that ranks highly on all six dimensions. Battery technology remains in a constant struggle to find the right chemistry to achieve the optimum performance across all six dimensions.

At present, the NMC battery that contains equal parts of nickel, cobalt and manganese (in a ratio of 1:1:1) has gained widespread acceptance among manufactures. Battery manufacturers are experimenting with the composition ratios of these metals and are favouring a higher proportion of nickel. Implementing a higher proportion of nickel provides the benefit of higher energy in the batteries over long distances and also make the batteries lighter. However, the lifetime of these batteries is short. Added to that, higher nickel ratios reduce battery manufacturers dependence on cobalt. Most of the world’s supply of cobalt arises from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Owing to the country’s political instability combined with human rights spotlight on child labour, a large portion of the world’s supply of cobalt remains at risk. According to Roskill and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI), NMC batteries featuring higher nickel proportions of 5:2:3 and 6:2:2 are already in use and manufactures are pushing to commercialise the NMC 8:1:1. However the NMC’s 8:1:1 highly stringent requirement in terms of dust, moisture and contamination control are holding back efforts to make the battery commercial. NMC 8:1:1 is expected to gain significant market share in the EV market by 2020.

We expect the rapid pace of innovation in battery technology to speed up mass adoption of EVs. As adoption of EVs garner momentum they will have far reaching implications for commodities. We expect metals such as – nickel, copper, silver and smaller elements such as – cobalt and lithium to benefit from the uptake of EVs, which we will discuss in detail in the second part of our blog.

This material is prepared by WisdomTree and its affiliates and is not intended to be relied upon as a forecast, research or investment advice, and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy. The opinions expressed are as of the date of production and may change as subsequent conditions vary. The information and opinions contained in this material are derived from proprietary and non-proprietary sources. As such, no warranty of accuracy or reliability is given and no responsibility arising in any other way for errors and omissions (including responsibility to any person by reason of negligence) is accepted by WisdomTree, nor any affiliate, nor any of their officers, employees or agents. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the reader. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

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This website and its content has been provided by WisdomTree UK Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

The price of any Shares or the value of an investment in ETPs may go up or down and an investor may not get back the amount invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. This material is not intended to be relied upon as a forecast, research or investment advice, and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product or to adopt any investment strategy.

For Professional Clients only. If you are not classified as either a Professional Client or Elective Professional Client. See client types here: Investor Types

If you are not classified under either of the other two categories, we will categorise you as a retail investor. You are welcome to view the contents of this website and to register your details so we have a record for the future, however currently we do not send materials directly to retail investors.